Smoke in the Air
by Kathen
Summary: When one mysterious person meets another mysterious person..
1. Care For A Smoke?

**Matthew.**

Matthew was walking around town, he wouldn't call it patrolling exactly, sure, he would attack demons if he saw them during his little walk, but he wasn't looking out for them as much tonight. Plus he didn't like the word 'patrolling'. So far, he was lucky enough to make it through a half an hour without any disturbance, but he knew that wouldn't last.

He walked down the sidewalks and looked into the dark alleys, raising an eyebrow, ''No evil here?'' He shook his head at the word evil as he kept walking and peeking into empty alleyways, when he saw a petite brunette walking the opposite way.

Usually he could just walk by, just some pedestrian, but, as if on cue, a demon shows up. Of course, the one time he misses an alley.

It pulled him into the alley thinking he was a helpless human. But it was wrong. He elbowed it in the stomach, causing it to let go, then turned around to face his opponent. By then, however, the brunette had swiftly gotten into the alley and started attacking the demon once it let go of him. He just stood there for a second, figuring he wasn't needed for one mere demon the way she was attacking it, when a couple of its 'friends' showed up.

Forty-five minutes of lucky..

**Isolde.**

Isolde strolled around the streets of the town, looking about. It'd been a quiet week, apart from a few scrapes that'd left her with some cuts and bruises, and she'd decided to walk to try and forget the stinging rather than be babied by the rest of the group who'd looked worried as anything. It wasn't as if it was as bad as when she broke her leg, or cracked her skull...

She chuckled to herself, scuffing her boots on the ground. They were all going stir crazy at the base and Isolde knew that if she didn't get some action soon she'd have to search high and low to find some fun.

She thought she'd seen something in the corner of her eye, a human her instincts told her, but he wasn't alone - he'd soon been dragged into an alleyway, by the sounds of it and Isolde turned and ran to help. The guy didn't seem to be completely helpless, however as he gave it a good shove in the stomach. She brought out one of the weapons distributed to her and shot it at the demon the minute he'd let go, causing it to fit and she promptly kicked it in the face for good measure.

This was what she loved doing, was what she was trained for. She beat the demon with a smile, enjoying the crack that sounded when she smashed her fist into his nose.

They had more company, that she knew, but for now she was intent of finishing this one off. She wanted to milk him for all he was worth.

He looked over, watching her beat the demon down as far as she could it seemed. It appeared she was gaining enjoyment from it. He didn't have time to think much about it now, questions later, if at all.

He turned to the three new antagonists, picked two from the group, kicking one to the ground, and hit the other on the side of the face until the other started getting up. With that, he swung around, connecting his boot to the demon's neck, causing it to stay down longer so he could keep at the still upright one.

The woman seemed to be able to hold her own with the one she was striking, he saw. The fourth one was going to her though, about to try a blow from behind her. Her reflexes seemed to perk up then, sensing the thing looming over.

She kicked out behind her, hearing the demon approaching from behind by its harsh breath. Her boot got it square in the chest, sending him reeling backwards and hopefully the guy, whoever he was, would take care of him. She knew he was more than adequate at fighting them, so she didn't feel bad for finishing off the one she'd started on with a final slice of her ring across its neck.

She didn't bother to watch it fall. Her attention was now switched to a demon who'd decided to go after her instead of the man she seemed to be fighting alongside. Ducking the demon's arm as he swung for her she jabbed him in the side, spin around to his back and booted him forwards down onto the floor, just as the other grabbed her hair.

Turning back to the upright one he knocked it to the ground, only to be hit into the wall from behind and let out an annoyed 'Oof'. He swung back hitting the demon away from him for some room. The two were both standing now, "Great.." He smirked a bit before jumping back into the fighting mode.

He did lots of ducking and jumping back now, it all ending when he got hit in the face. That made him mad. He had just forgiven them for the wall incident, the face...no, no mercy there. He glared back at them, wiping a trail of blood from the corner of his mouth, and whipped out a knife from his sleeve, slicing the fiends wherever before her hit their necks, both of them falling to the ground.

He looked over at the woman after hearing her mumble and saw a demon grab her by the hair. He threw the knife he was holding and hit the hand and its attention was on him now.

Isolde mentally thanked the guy for his help with the hair-grabbing demon but didn't have time to say it as she turned back to fight it. This one seemed to be stronger than the others somehow, and definitely uglier. It tilted his head at her as if considering how this strange, little human could possibly beat him but all Isolde did was smile.

It was the least she could do, you know? Give him a smile, before administering a sharp jab in the chest sending him stumbling away. It sort of took the edge off what she was about to do to him, which was beat the remaining crap out of him. He recovered quickly but she was ready with an upward kick to his jaw which snapped back, breaking his neck as his head was forced backwards and he fell to the floor with a giant thud.

Isolde now realized how heavy she was breathing after the scuffle. The adrenaline was still pumping through her veins, making her eager and alert and she wanted something else to do, something else to fight. It was then she remembered the guy who had helped her and turned, almost awkwardly to face him.

"Hi there..." she said, grinning at how ridiculous it sounded.

When he looked back at her, he saw a smile on her face. The first time he'd seen her smile at a demon, well, it wasn't in much of an attacking mood anymore...or a living mood for that matter. Sure enough, that smile was the admission to a party; her fist the host and her boot the crescendo. The party ended with a broken neck and a thud. Doors' are closed, everyone out.

He raised an eyebrow at the panting woman, keeping it up as she turned to him speaking after all that with a _'Hi there...'_.

He smirked a bit, leaning against the brick alleyway wall, as his breathing was now catching up too, "Hello..". He moved his gaze from her to the demons around, oddly intrigued by the sight, then back as her...not so unintriguing either.


	2. Care For A Drink?

Isolde noticed his raised brow and laughed, ferreting in her pocket for the packet of cigarettes that were, miraculously, not bent out of shape. Flicking the lighter, catching the spark and holding it to the cigarette that she'd placed in her mouth she took a long drag, exhaling slowly. Some people had a cigarette after sex - granted Isolde did that too, but there was none she liked better than when she'd beaten down some butt ugly creature and stamped him off the face of the earth and nether realms.

She looked back to him, holding the cigarette in her hand and the packet in the other. She gestured towards him. "Want one?"

Matthew thought about his pack for a second, but felt it crushed in his pocket, "Sure." He pushed himself off the wall and went over to her and got a cig from hers. His lighter was ok though, he thought as he lit up and drew in from it. He took the cigarette from his mouth for a moment, "You were...interesting...back there."

His choice of words humored him, interesting. It summed up everything he saw pretty much though. Just interesting. It wasn't everyday he saw that sort of action. He took another drag, exhaling with his usual smooth and slow breath, watching Mysterious over there through the rising smoke he'd just let out.

Isolde considered him a moment then laughed, shaking her head slightly, as if disbelieving of the whole situation. "Yeah well - you weren't so bad yourself. Haven't seen those moves pulled in a while." She watched his mouth discretely as he smoked, bringing her eyes back up to his as she took another long breath from the "death stick" as many of her friends called it.

"So tell me. You don't seem to be the usual jack-the-lad, wander-the-streets-at-night, beat up demons in his spare time, type of guy... you seem a LOT more practiced, and I'm guessing this ain't a hobby?"

He chuckled a bit, "Well, spare time is really all I have now." He flicked his wrist a bit, letting the ashes flutter down, "I was picked up and trained by a demon hunter organization when I was a kid, but..." he trailed off for a second, "..that's in the past now." Just after that one sentence, his usual defenses went up, not opening up to anyone since that long while ago. He might've answered as much as she wanted to know anyway. If she really wanted more, maybe another question later. He threw the small remain of the cigarette after a last drag to the ground, crushing it with his shoe.

He looked to the crumpled remnant on the floor, letting his thoughts go by. He hadn't trusted anyone since that little hunting club, he noticed. He raised his head again, only to change the subject, "What about you? Not too plain yourself.." He kept his gaze to her eyes, he didn't know if he was trying to read them or what. Probably. He usually did that for his trust issue. She seemed different, but many people have separate definitions of 'different' than him. And his was always the one he went with.

Isolde smirked, tilting her head. So he wasn't so dissimilar to her after all, just as she'd expected. She lightly puffed on her cigarette, looking about for a second then moved over to an upturned bucket, choosing it as her place to sit. Kicking off her shoes Isolde sighed, cricking her neck where the muscles had only just decided to stiffen.

"Sorry, but my feet are killin' me, " she explained, and after yet another drag she too put out the cigarette. Raising her eyes to meet his again she began to reply, her manner offhand and casual. "My story's kinda... the same, to be honest. My family, they were taken by some evil uglies like those guys, " she gestured to the corpses on the floor, "when I was eight. These government blokes came to try save them but they were, obviously, too late apart from me. I got brought into something called The Guild, trained, altered, brought up with all the rules just to fight the evil that walked the streets. It's been my life for over ten years..."

Matthew had never really thought about someone being the same, however. He went back to the wall and leaned on it, listening to her story. He was surprised she'd actually told hers after he had hardly said a thing. People just loved his friendly attitude.

"Seems to happen to a lot more people than one would think. You're attacked by some demon, then get picked up by a group who saves every person in the world.." He shook his head, except for the people you really care about saving, he thought. He looked away to the deserted road from the alley, thoughts running around again. Since recently, he tended to think a lot right after a fight.

"What's your 'Guild' like?" He turned back, wondering. He'd heard of most of the demon hunters, just by being asked to join many of them, but this Guild was a new one to him, "Or is it a classified organization.." Everything about the supernatural was classified now. Nobody could know anything it seemed.

She laughed dryly, shrugging. "I can tell you what its _like_, for sure, just not the assignments and shit. It's pathetic really - we can save people but not tell them what we just saved them from. Anyway yeah... the Guild, it's alright. A lot of time spent together within the bunker, which is our base. We have a good friendship - there's not one of them I don't know or spend time with, have a laugh with... our life pretty much consists of friends and assignments. Fighting. That's it, " she shrugged, leaving out the bit about any romance that might come their way. She'd never quite been able to handle that.

There were some things about life at the bunker she didn't like to discuss, which now came into her mind: she sighed, looking anywhere but him for the moment before she brought her eyes to rest on him. "So sorry - I haven't even introduced myself. Name's Isolde, " she smiled, standing and extending a hand so he might forget any strange behavior she'd been showing.

Pathetic was a good word for it all. How hard was it to say, 'It was a demon' to someone?

Who knows.

"Friends and assignments." He thought about it. "That sounds...nice." He thought he had friends during certain parts of his life, of course, that was a common misconception on his part. That 'Guild' sounded much better than the last place he'd worked at though. It seemed she was holding things back about her life too now, however. Talking about work seemed to do that in this business.

"Ah, Isolde. I apologize as well.." He took her hand, "Matthew...Reeve." He smiled a bit; he didn't do that enough. Didn't have anyone to smile at usually.

"Well, Matthew Reeve it's a pleasure to meet you, " smiled Isolde. After shaking his hand she put both of hers on her hips in a casual stance, looking about her. "The Guild _is_ nice... could do with a few more interesting bits to it, new faces..." She glanced at him before shrugging, as if dismissing her own thoughts.

"Anyway..." she said, getting off the subject. He didn't want to talk about the Guild, surely. "I normally don't ask this to guys I beat the shit out of demons with, but do you fancy a drink? I'm parched and cigarettes can only do so much."

"As it is meeting you, Isolde." He moved his arms back to his sides after shaking her hand, listening to her mumbles. It might be nice to start over with a new group. It sounded like the work was ok and it sounded like she had real friends. He was actually considering joining that 'Guild' of hers.

"Well, if you don't usually ask, I can't turn down this one in a lifetime offer then, eh?" He stepped aside, as it seemed she had a place in mind, "Where to?" A nice JD and Coke sounded good about now, really.


	3. Dead Cheap

Isolde smiled and began to lead the way, not answering for the moment. "Nope you can't turn me down. I'm too dangerous, for you to, " she laughed, winking at him. "There's just a nice little bar around the corner from the park down this road. Get all your cocktails and mind-numbing alcohol from there dead cheap too."

As she walked she noted how nice it was to be in someone else's company. Not that she didn't appreciate her friends at the bunker, but this guy seemed nice, this…Matthew. He was rather refreshing, and didn't seem like the rest of the egotistical bozos she'd encountered along the way. "What's your poison?"

He smirked; he'd go with that. Especially after seeing Isolde fight off those demons, "Dead cheap's always good." He'd have to keep this place in mind for the next time he was around this part of town. Which was where he figured he'd be a lot more after tonight.

They continued on down the sidewalk; it was nice getting out...in a different way than his usual killing fiends. Nice as they were, demons just weren't usually up for going to get a drink. Or going anywhere besides their alleys and other dark places. "I'm rather partial to JD and Coke myself…"

"JD and coke!" gasped Isolde, looking to him with a wide smile. "Ah, you're a guy after my own heart. I love that stuff. And daiquiris... oh and martinis too. Hell I just love alcohol, " she shrugged, rambling a little but it was certainly a lot better than talking about demons all day to her friends.

She scuffed her feet a little and brushed down her shirt that was a little dusty. "Ugh. Fighting demons has its drawbacks, one of which is extra ironing..."

Matthew raised his eyebrows and smiled back, rather amused, but in a good way, by Isolde's reaction.

"It's quite the stuff, alcohol.." He pondered this a moment before chuckling. It turned into more of a laugh after she brought up ironing as a drawback.

He looked at his shirt, it wrinkled and dusty as well, "Yes. That's definitely on my top ten list of downfalls to demon fighting."

"You have a list?" Isolde asked, smirking as she looked to him, aiming to tease as much as she could. "Now that's just weird."

She kicked a stone out of her way with her hard leather boot, watching it roll and bounce down the street. "Of course I know that there are far worse things than a heavy laundry load such as broken bones, bruises..." she trailed off, not wanting to add 'losing people' to the very long list of what sucked about being a demon hunter.

''Ha-ha... '' Matthew smirked as she had got him there, ''I would call it...observant, but yes. '' He raised his eyebrows as he replaced weird with observant.

He watched the stone roll away from her kick too while listening to her say worse things, and then noticed it got quiet. They were probably thinking about the same thing, the losing people thing. He broke the silence, ''Well, tonight's demon fighting was all good, besides the laundry and cut lip... ''

It was true though, besides the bad things, the whole group of demons had fallen, he came out of it with just one cut lip, and he had met Isolde. His usual walls were starting to disintegrate as he talked to her. Isolde was becoming more of an upside to his life than just tonight.

"Really?" she asked, looking at him as if he were slightly mental. Which, if she liked him, as she suspected she did, he undoubtedly was. Her taste was generally for the insane or the masked evil ones, and it saddened her to think that now she realized he was someone she might be interested in, he might not turn out to be that nice after all. "All good? Well I suppose, now that they're dead and didn't hurt us it was a pretty fulfilling night. All rounded off perfectly with a drink."

She smiled at him a moment before turning right and gesturing to the bar down the highstreet. "Coming?"

''Well, no...I think about it every here and there. But nothing official like a list.'' This was definitely a weird conversation. Back and forth asking about lists and such. But at least it was a conversation. As he thought about it he saw himself as a recluse. Didn't talk to anyone, and usually only came out at night. All he did was think and kill demons really.

He smiled as she nodded toward the bar, ''Nah, I think now that we're here I'll pass.'' His smile turned to a smirk as he continued on, following her inside.


End file.
